You know what is really annoying freebingohunter at the moment?  Online bingo websites that advertise great offers all over the place without making it clear about who can claim the bingo bonus. One bingo brand might being offering a sign up bonus to all it's new players and unknown to bingo players even although they have never played at the advertising online bingo site they might not qualify for the bonus--does that sound like fair advertising to you?  For example, let's say you are a member of bingo site A and you have played there for a few months with no problems. One day you see an advert for a new bingo site, site B, and you think that it's a great offer so you'll go try it out.  You get to the new bingo site B and go all the way through the registration process and register your bank card, only to discover that the new bingo site is saying that you are "already a member" because that bank card and email address are already registered.

So you're sitting their thinking what the heck has someone cloned my details and signed me up on this new bingo site that I have never been to before in my life?  Well what has actually happened is that, probably unkown to you, you have been playing at Bingo site A which is part of the same bingo network as the new bingo site B and therefore they don't consider you a new player because you already play bingo in their network.  

It doesn't seem very fair to freebingohunter that the bingo sites can advertise a free bingo sign up offer and not make it clear that many existing bingo players playing at other bingo sites can't actually qualify for the bonus.  I've got no problem with bingo sites not giving out bonuses twice to the same customers, and indeed there are lots of folks who do their best to abuse them, but surely bingo sites could be more upfront about which sites members qualify and which don't.  The worst thing about this is not so much that bingo players don't get the bonus, it's that they have to waste their time going through the bingo registration process before discovering that they don't qualify.  So come on online bingo sites--smarten up your website copy so it's clear who qualifies and you don't waste bingo players time--I don't think that's too much to ask.

Holy moly and smoke me a free bingo kipper! Those kill joys at the UK Advertising Standards Authority have banned Tombola Bingo's TV ads.  Yes that's right, not content with banning adverts for Inter Casino, Ladbrokes and Williamhill Bingo, the ASA seems to be intent on making sure that gambling adverts are put under the highest scrutiny. Far be it from free bingo hunter to try and tell the ASA how to do its job but I am inclined to think that there is a lack of consistency in its approach to the banning of TV ads.  For a start Tombola Bingo's tv ads have been running since last summer so where have they been up till now?  During the time that Tombola's bingo ads have been on tv there have been lots of gambling and bingo tv ads being produced and some of them are certainly as cartoony or as appealing to children, yet they haven't been banned yet!I really think that the ASA is missing the point on this one. Tombola bingo is one of the few true "bingo" sites in the UK at the moment. Its doesn't offer slot machines or ways for bingo players to gamble which are not in the spirit of multiplayer bingo.

Now i'm not saying that mini-games and slot machines are wrong, far from it in fact.  What I am saying is that the bingo adverts the ASA should really worry about are the ones that are a blatant attempt to flout the rules around the advertising of hard gaming before the watershed.  I really think the big worry for online bingo sites is that the TV adverts end up getting pushed to being after the watershed which would be a real shame for everyone.

Anyway power to the people and here is my 1 man banner protest against the banning of TV online bingo ads--look out for me climbing up Big Ben as well!

Man if there is one thing that gets my goat it's online bingo promotions which are virtually impossible to understand.  You know what I'm talking about, those bingo promotions where you have to do X Y and Z to qualify for A and there is also normally a long list of terms and conditions that you have to comply with to make sure you qualify. Increasingly online bingo sites also have this annoying habit of running promotions that last weeks--by the end of them bingo players can't remember why they originally took part in the promotion and we all lose interest.  Why don't online bingo sites get it? Do they think it's smart to give bingo players a massive list of conditions that they have to comply with to take part in the promotion, I always thought the idea was to get people playing more bingo no putting them off by having them fall foul of terms and conditions that nobody reads. The best online bingo promotions are those that don't have terms and conditions anyway!  Why? Because promotions which are well thought out and well communicated don't need a list of Terms and Conditions, as everyone understands how they work.

 If fbh has to read the details of a promotion on a bingo website 3 or 4 times just to understand how it works--then it's kinda not really a promotion anymore is it? In fact I'm normally left feeling that the bingo site should give a prize to any bingo player who can understand how their super complicated bingo promotion works.  Playing bingo is supposed to be a leisure activity and therefore bingo players (and fbh) don't appreciate having to put maximum effort into understanding bingo promotions.  And while I'm on my super rant I'd also like to suggest that bingo promotions managers out there get their thinking caps on quit coming up with monthly promotions which consist entirely of boring prize draws--yet another spa day to be won--whoopee.   

In the old days, before freebingohunters could play bingo online, bingo players satisfied themselves with playing bingo in their local bingo club.  Playing bingo in clubs has always been very different to playing bingo online, not least because paper bingo in a club requires a small element of skill to keep up with the game.  How many times in bingo clubs have people missed out on a big jackpot because they forgot to shout "Bingo" before the next number was called?  Or how many players have found that when they did call bingo they were playing on a different coloured page from everyone else in the bingo club? Probably loads! In fbh's days in bingo clubs, mangers were always spending time consoling bingo players who had fallen foul of the strict rules of uk club bingo. Right up until the 1980s lots of bingo clubs had house rules that said if you make an incorrect claim on a bingo game you lose your bingo tickets for the next games. This rule, whilst harsh, made sure that bingo players always concentrated when they were playing and made sure that they didn't claim incorrectly.  Of course there was also a certain amount of excitement generated in a club (and even enjoyment) by a bingo player losing their tickets as a punishment for not keeping up! 

So this got fbh wondering if there is any behaviour in online bingo which deserves to be punished?  There are lots of rules in online bingo about what you can and can't say in chat rooms and players who flood chat rooms or swear will often find themselves being banned (even although it can sometimes be more entertaining than the bingo). However, the thing that fbh reckons get's on online bingo players' wicks the most are bingo players  and chat hosts who constantly use "lol" (short for laugh out loud) at the end of every piece of chat they write.  You know the type: "1tg lol", "just off to make a cuppa lol!", "what time are the free bingo games?-lol".  Are these folks really laughing out loud at the end of every sentence?  Imagine what they must be like in real life if they are laughing out loud everytime they talk (must be a nightmare at a funeral). There must be an epidemic of people who finish off every sentence with a hearty chuckle!  Even worse are those folks who are "rofling" (rolling on the floor laughing) all the time  or lmao (laughing my ass off) or even worse those who are roflmao (rolling on the floor laughing my ass off).  How can they play online bingo and be on the floor rolling around all the time?  So next time you see some rofling or lmaoing too much give them a "rmeni"-rolling my eyes not impressed!            

There have been loads of online bingo ads on tv recently.  Whilst they are of a pretty good standard they don't rank in fbh's top tv ads of the moment.  Fbh reckons that bingo tv ads could do with more humour injected into them like the ads I've selected as being from the current top drawer of TV ads below.  Last year there were some really good online bingo tv ads with lots of new ideas. However, this year we have pretty much seen a rehash of last year's ads and nothing that has been of particular note. Bingo is a fun game with great sense of humour so we'd love to see more of that in the bingo ads. Come on online bingo sites give us Bingo Brits a TV ad we can be proud of! Check my selection below-leave a comment and let me know which is your favourite:

            Barclay Card                                  Virgin Atlantic                    Compare the Meerkat

Imagine travelling to work like this!        FBH is also Hot stuff             Cute meerkat funny accent

Virtue Fusion have recently launched a spectacular new slot game on their network called Marine Mayhem.  The game is just like a regular slot machine but it has the added bonus of giving players the chance to share in a community jackpot every 2 or 3 minutes.  As players spin they are awarded cash prizes in the normal way. However, players are also awarded special marine mayhem points when they spin in 3 or more points symbols on a win line.  Winning points helps the players to move up the community leaderboard and if a player is in a top 10 position when the big community reels go off then they'll get a share of the community cash.  Players should be keen to get as high up the leaderboard as possible: the higher up they are the bigger the share of community cash they'll get.

Freebingohunter thinks Marine Mayhem is a great addition to the world of online bingo games and we think you'll really enjoy playing it! After playing it for a while we realised that there are a few things that players can do to improve their chances of scooping a share of the community pot.  Once you have played the game these tips will make a lot more sense to you:

1. If you enter Marine Mayhem while a game is in progress you should wait until a new game starts before spinning your slot machine.  By spinning as soon as new game starts you make sure that you can manage the same number of spins as other players and give yourself the best chance of being the person with the most marine points.  If you start spinning when the game is already in progress, then it is less likely that you'll move up the leaderboard and win a prize.

2.  Use "Expert Mode": if you click on the expert mode option you can get the slot machine to do all the spins for you, in as fast as time as possible.  By selecting 50 or 100 spins the game will automatically play for you and you'll stand a fair chance.

3.  Make sure you've got a decent internet connection and computer. If your computer starts with a hand crank and you have a dial up internet connection then you'll probably not manage as many spins as the other players.  Why not take the opportunity to upgrade your equipment-you'll find that everything runs a lot better!  

4.  If you like playing on normal slot machines you should give marine mayhem a try.  We think you'll find that your money will last a bit longer on this slot machine than normal ones and therefore you'll enjoy the game more.

You can play Marine Mayhem at Mecca Bingo, Bet365 Bingo, Williamhill Bingo and JackpotCity Bingo. If you pick one that you've never played at before then you'll also pick up a tasty sign up bonus!

Foxy Bingo have just launched a new multi-million pound advertising campaign, with the tag-line "He's Back!".  There's TV adverts, radio space and futuristic electronic posters showing Foxy returning back with a £1 million bingo prize! But the important question we want to know is, where has Foxy been? Gambling, drinking and visiting ladies of the night, according to this TV advert!  Bearing a striking resemblance to Foxy, this smooth operator seems to be wowing the ladies.  Is it just me, or is this Foxy slightly cooler? Incidently, the beer being advertised here is called Cascade, with the company behind Foxy Bingo called Cashcade! Coincidence? We think not!